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R. B. Herath

WHO CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE OF PEACE FROM GLOBAL PEACE ALLIANCE

You can be a global peace messenger by spreading peace thoughts|reflections in your community, country and the world. youtu.be/w-sMBOb5qUE

"INFORMED, CARING PEOPLE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD"- Dr. R.B. HERATH, PRESIDENT / GLOBAL PEACE ALLIANCE, SURREY SOCIETY. Click on the link https://youtu.be/0vmBIHJ8l6g to listen to his full speech. Photos of the speech event at flic.kr/s/aHskwnCdjG.

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This is the 2017 ‘Give Peace a Chance’ (GPAC) festival of the GPAC PROGRAM of the Global Peace Alliance (GPA) that runs on an annual basis.” This year’s festival, like the one of 2016, will have keynote peace talks and lots of music, songs, dances, and exhibits of cultural traditions (dress, food, arts & crafts included) representing major cultures around the globe. GPA will also announce and duly recognize the participants and winners of its 2017 peace-themed Arts & Literary Contests. Lots of fun and photo opportunities for all. Come One! Come All!

This book takes on perhaps the biggest challenge to modern civilization: a global nuclear catastrophe lying in wait. According to expert opinions, the world has reached a nuclear tipping point and that the next world war would be fought with nuclear weapons. All what is required for this global nuclear war to begin is a trigger. Historians have told how a violent conflict between Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbia in 1914 and the German invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered WWI and WWII, respectively. A close review of the existing conflicts in the world shows that there are a few among them that could similarly trigger the next world war at an opportune time. Unfortunately, the present global system of checks and balances seems to be incapable of meeting this and other new challenges to world peace.

Against this background, A New Beginning for Humankind first evaluates the risk levels associated with ongoing major conflicts in the world and their individual contribution to the present global tension. Then, it describes a new, creative five-fold strategy to prevent the outbreak of the global nuclear disaster lying in wait. This strategy aims at reducing global tension and further strengthening the existing checks and balances. Later, the book explains that the mere prevention of wars at the worst of times will only help further consolidate the present dismal human destiny of living under intermittent clouds of global wars and will not lead to lasting peace on the planet. Therefore, the book also lays out a novel, revolutionary approach to lasting peace on the planet with a New Beginning for Humankind.

The book ends with a detailed description of a proven, steadfast process for the implementation of this new approach. Every able human, young or old, can play an important role in this process either in an individual capacity or as a member of a group: family, classmates, schoolmates, workmates, society, nation, or the global community. This process is carefully designed to transform the present world of tension, fear, and uncertainty to one of relief, resilience, and lasting peace.

Early reviews of the book

“This book, latest from Dr Herath, is aimed at the ordinary public to establish lasting peace on earth in an extraordinary way. I am sure that professionals, peace activists and scholars will benefit from his perspective on ending armed conflicts."—Rev Dr Henry Victor, Anglican Minister, adjunct professor of religious studies at the, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

“This book offers a unique opportunity to look at all the major violent conflicts of our time in just one reading and to see for oneself the global nuclear disaster in the making. It also exposes the inherent limitations of the conventional peacemaking processes. It ends with some practical, down-to-earth suggestions for the future. This book is a must read for students of political science and all those interested in a safer and secure world.”—Mohammed Alam, a community worker, trade union activist, and advocate of human rights Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

"This is a wonderful, eye-opening book that takes on perhaps the biggest challenge to modern civilization. It is well-written, informative and convincing. I am sure it will appeal to anyone and everyone who has an interest in the future of humans on the green planet.”—Dr. Mohan Thiagarajah, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

“Dr. Herath’s work deposited a good dose of sobriety in all its readers about the oddity of humanity’s love for life – while it sees its attainment in the destruction of some parts of itself... It is the oddity of auto-immune disease: a pathological scenario of anti-bodies destroying some cells in the body in the face of their duty to preserve them. It is called pemphigoid in medical language – an ugly term that fittingly conveys the whole oddity! It is an unfortunate crossroad about humanity. Only a commitment to peace at the level of ordinary daily living can resolve the anomaly. In its message that we can all embrace that commitment, the book is a must-read for the appropriate equipping. Otherwise, a world so deep in regional and global volatility can only end up with the fate of the dinosaurs, or a sorely denatured system.” - Dr. Chris Eigbike, PhD, Adjunct Faculty, Western Institute for Social Research, Berkeley, CA. Read in full here.

Book just unvailed at Book Launch

May everyone care for the needs of others and share what is available in an equitable manner.

May everyone forgive and forget any harm done by others.

May everyone always act responsibly in a trustworthy and reliable manner.

May everyone appreciate the wellbeing and happiness of all humans, just as one’s own - irrespective of race, ethnicity, tribe, religion, language, culture, and ideology.

Click here for the table of contents of the book;
Click here to read the publisher’s press release on the book; and
Click here to access publisher’s special website for the book

describes a unique experiment in democracy that took place during 2004–2005. In this experiment, the government of British Columbia gave its citizens the power to take control of its electoral reform process and make a final decision. This new approach to electoral reform was implemented through a citizens' assembly of 160 randomly selected, nonpartisan British Columbians and a referendum. The citizens' assembly first studied the different electoral options, listened to the views of their fellow citizens, and recommended a new electoral system for British Columbia. Later, all British Columbians took part in making a final decision on the recommended new system through the referendum. Dr. Herath was directly involved in the process as one of the assembly members. This unique new approach has gathered attention from political pundits all over the world. There are indications that other jurisdictions will adopt it. The Netherlands and Ontario have already begun to do so while there is a growing movement in California to follow suit.

The work first introduces the reader to electoral reform in general, the historic context of the new approach, and its implementation. This is followed by an explanation of the six most critical features of the new approach. The work ends with Dr. Herath's conclusions that include five important lessons to be drawn from this first time application of the new approach and its worldwide applicability.

Book Reviews

“This book adds to the growing literature on the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electorial Reform...the book is devoted to the background and setting up the assembly, the random selection process, the learning phase, the public hearing phase, and the deliberation phase...what makes this book unique is that the author was a member of the Citizens' Assembly.”—Gary Levy, Editor, Canadian Parliamentary Review

“Citizens around the world who are concerned about the state of democracy and governance have been looking for innovative ways to regain power to the people, especially in the wake of centralizing tendencies witnessed today. This book is a welcome addition as it describes a unique experiment in citizen involvement via a citizen's assembly initiated and supported by the government in British Columbia, Canada. The author- a member of the assembly provides a cogent account of the innovative exercise for electoral reform. The concept, process and intended outcomes have considerable applications elsewhere. A highly useful work for students in social sciences, politics, democracy and governance.”—Dr. Siri Gamage, School of Professional Development and Leadership, University of New England, Armidale NSW, Australia

“I feel honored to be asked by Dr. Herath to read and comment on the original manuscript of this book from a non-academic reader’s perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It explains complex political theories in a simple language, while narrating the amazing story of the historic Citizens’ Assembly of British Columbia. The book is sure to appeal to everyone interested in politics and wants to learn more about electoral systems and democratic governance.”—Neil Turner, Manager/ Project and Environmental Approvals, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

BC Premier Gordon Campbell presenting a certificate to Dr. Herath for his services as a Citizens Assembly member

“ Dr Herath provides an interesting account of the internal debates and fills us in with anecdotes that add to the readability of the text – I got through the whole book in three half-day sittings. Eventually the PR-STV option was adopted by the Assembly, much to the chagrin of the author, who, reading between the lines, seems to have been the leader of the MMP camp. .. Real Power to the People is a must for all readers interested in electoral reform, and that means everybody who is interested in politics in Sri Lanka. Chapter 8 entitled Sober Reflection is a thoughtful and useful drawing together of the whole experience. This is an attractively styled and well written book; I recommend it to you.” —Professor Kumar David of Sri Lankan origin from Hong Kong. For full review clickwww.island.lk/2007/10/28/politics6.html

This book can be ordered through any local bookstore or by contacting the publisher [University Press of America, 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706, USA – visit www.univpress.com and select “order information” or call 1-800-462-6420; please dial (717) 794-3800 if you cannot access the 800 number. For international orders, please call 1-717-794-3800 for assistance with locating a representative in your area if you cannot access the internet.] You can also purchase a copy from any online bookstore (including amazon.com, barnsandnoble.com, www.books.google.ca, chapters.indigo.ca) or the author (Email: herath@telus.net, Tel: 604-583-6767 Canada, www.rbherath.com).

Style of cover

Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis: Towards a Resolution

is a result of more than twelve years of research on the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis. It gives a vivid description of the crisis, exposes and analyses for the very first time many controversial factors that influence it, and shows a way to end it by democratic means.

Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis: Towards a Resolution is a unique book among those written on the subject. It looks at the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis in its entirety from a completely different perspective. It gives the most condensed historic background to the crisis, encapsulating the widest possible chronological data substantiated by an extensive bibliography. It is also the timeliest publication on the subject. Most importantly, it proposes a co-ordinated solution to the Sri Lankan crisis and a realistic plan of action for its implementation. The solution so proposed equally applies in principle to other countries of similar crises.

A close look at all the books so far written on the subject reveals that Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis: Towards a Resolution is the first book to:

reach readers in both the academic and non-academic environments;

help the reader fully understand the historic context of the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka;

discover and discuss in a co-ordinated manner the hidden factors that influence the crisis;

expose the disguise of the elite and dynastic-type post-colonial rule as democracy, and the unbuddhist influence of some Buddhist monks on the ethnic crisis;

remind the British, the last colonial power of Sri Lanka, of their responsibility for the present predicament of the Sinhalese peasantry and "stateless" Indian Tamils;

suggest a complete solution to the crisis with a new democratic model of governance, which is equally applicable in principle to other countries suffering from ethnic strife; and

Outline a way to implement the solution in the present political climate.

This is the first time a person outside social science academia and the journalistic world has written a book on the subject, giving the citizen's point of view on the ethnic crisis combined with a democratic solution. In his solution, the author suggests a new, bottom-up approach to the crisis, with the people at the centre of the decision making process, instead of the top-down approach that has so far failed.